2016 International Conference on Global Trends in Signal Processing, Information Computing and Communication
Cargo Space Optimization for Container
Jyoti T. Patil
PG Student
Department of computer engineering, SSBT College of
engineering & Technology, Bambhori, Jalgaon, India,
Jyotipatil81@rocketmail.com
Abstract—Cargo loading and planning is the most essential
factor in transportation like railways, airlines, trucks and buses.
It is the proper arrangement of goods, items or cargo into the
available space of container. Due to improper arrangement of
cargo and unavailability of proper optimization techniques the
space gets wasted and damage of goods occurs in container. The
proper arrangement and placement of the cargo is very difficult
task today. To utilize the maximum occupancy of the container
the optimization algorithms are required to design. The
optimization algorithms, simple algorithm, LAFF (Largest Area
First Fit) and LAFF algorithm with Weight consideration are
proposed. All algorithms, simple algorithm, LAFF and LAFF
with weight consider the dimensions of the cargo and container
like base, height, width and weight. These algorithms help to plan
and load cargo properly in a container and give the optimized
solution for arrangement of cargo. Experimental evaluation
shows that, our proposed algorithms give maximum space
utilization than existing methods
Keywords—cargo loading; Space optimization; Operational
research; Decision making; optimization.
I. INTRODUCTION
The Operational Research (OR) is a branch of applied
mathematics, which is used to provide a scientific base for
management to take timely and effective decisions to their
problems. The research like an evidence or information which
is practically usable for improvement of system like design,
methods and any approach is taken considered under the
operational research.
The cargo loading and optimization is the part of the
operational research. The operation is defined as the activities
carried out in an organization. The process of observation and
testing characterized by the scientific method is called as the
research. It can be any situation, problem statement,
construction of model, validation of system, experimentation.
So the operational research is a collection of general
mathematical models, analytical procedures and algorithms.
Operational Research is the scientific study of operation which
helps for better decision making. It helps to identify the
optimum solution for particular problem.
Operational Research is the use of advanced analytical and
optimization techniques to improve decision making and
978-1-5090-0467-6/16/$31.00 ©2016 IEEE
Manoj E. Patil
Associate professor
Department of computer engineering, SSBT College of
engineering & Technology, Bambhori, Jalgaon, India,
mepatil@gmail.com
bounds a wide range of problem-solving techniques and
methods applied for the improvement of decision -making and
the quality of the solution. It is the tool which is used to find
the optimized solution for the given optimization problem. In
railways, airlines, trucks and buses the decision making to
loading and arranging the cargo in a given size of container is
most difficult. To get the optimized solution without wastage
of space is the challenge in OR. Due to this reason the
optimization method in operational research plays most
important role in cargo space optimization.
Rest of the paper is organized as: Section 2 gives an overview
of the related work, Section 3 presents the proposed approach,
Section 4 presents the result and discussion and Section 5
concludes the proposed approach.
II. RELATED WORK
The operational research is now a day’s very popular domain
for study. It is used in the number of technical methods like
multi-criteria decision analysis, linear and non linear
programming, discrete-event simulation, queuing and
stochastic process modeling, conjoint analysis and neural
networking. There are 2 main models involved in the
operational research as deterministic models and stochastic
models.
Fig 1 Operational research & Optimization Classification
The proper arrangement of cargo with the maximum use of the
given container is difficult task. The damage of the cargo takes
place in more extend which is a cost consuming also. While
the cargo placed in the container, the position, direction
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rotation is getting considered so that if it is not properly placed
the repositioning can be done. But the repositioning is also the
time consuming. It is cost consuming and very difficult to
manage the space optimization. The different models of
operational research and optimization techniques are as shown
in Fig. 1.
A. Operatinal research models
There are mainly 2 models are involved in OR models as
deterministic models and Stochastic models. The stochastic
models cover 40% of the operational research area and the
remaining 60% is covered by the deterministic models. In
stochastic type of model the uncertain data is considered. It
explicitly represents uncertain data via random variables or
stochastic processes. It characterizes the system performance
and also estimates the performance of the system.
Rieder, in [1], has given that stochastic operations research is
the process which varies with the time. The stochastic models
are uncertain and therefore they focuses on effect of
uncertainty. For example customer service, where the
complaints come are uncertain. Share market system where
shares changes uncertainly. Many applications focus on
decision making. The stochastic models involve the Markov
models, Markov decision processes, stochastic games, queuing
systems, inventory models and investment models. The
temporary relationships between the random variables and
constraints get established.
Linderoth, in[2], has given that the deterministic models
consist of the linear programming, network optimization,
integer programming and nonlinear optimization methods. It
assumes all the certain data for formulation of problems.
Deterministic models involve the optimization. It gives the
optimal solution among the different types of solutions which
is called as best possible solution. Operations research and
industrial engineering is the science of decision making. It is
used for decision making in management. Example of this
type of modes is travelling salesman problem.
B. Optimization Techniques
The core sub branch of the operational research is
optimization. The space optimization is the proper
arrangement of the cargo within the given dimensions of
container and to use the maximum volume of the container.
1) Classical optimization methods
The classical optimization techniques are very difficult to
solve. They leads to the non-linear simultaneous equations
which are complex and that’s why can’t be solved easily.
These methods assume that the function is differentiable twice
with respect to the design variables and the derivatives are
continuous. Three main types of problems can be handled by
the classical optimization techniques as single variable
functions, multi-variable functions with no constraints, multi-
variable functions with both equality and inequality
constraints.
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Jose V et al., in [3], aims to make a comparative study of
different industry available software’s for cargo load
optimization and planning such as 3D load packer, Load
planner etc. This paper chiefly focused on a decision support
system specifically designed for transport load planning of sea
and air transport containers, trucks, boxes, and pallets, and is
optimized with full auto loading capability using dynamic
programming. Dynamic Programming is one of the elegant
algorithm design standards and is powerful tool which yields
classic algorithms for a variety of combinatorial optimization
problems. Cargo load planning is critical to transport carriers,
especially for an industry heavily influenced by increasing
fuel prices and costs.
2) Numerical Optimization Methods
The numerical optimization methods consist of the linear
programming, quadratic programming, integer programming,
nonlinear programming, dynamic programming, stochastic
programming, and infinite-dimensional optimization. The
dynamic optimization studies the case in which the
optimization strategy is based on splitting the problem into
smaller sub-problems.
Gurbuz et al., in [4], has considered the rectangle packing
problem as 3D packing problem. The LAFF algorithm is
designed by considering the dimensions of he containers like
base, width and height. The LAFF algorithm considers infinite
height of container i.e. the container is open and there is no
consideration of weight of the boxes. It fits the maximum
height cargo or box first into the container and gives the
optimized solution.
Kanniga et al., in[5], has given the permutation block
algorithm. The container loading problem is a packing of the
boxes in the given sized container. The concept of
Permutation Block Algorithm (PBA) is applied in the wall
layer approach for the load optimization. The equal sized
boxes are considered.
3) Advanced Optimization Methods
Advanced optimization methods involves the hill climbing,
simulated annealing. By using genetic algorithms the
optimization of the space can be achieved. A genetic
algorithm (GA) is a local search technique used to find
approximate solutions to optimization and search problems.
The ant colony optimization is another advanced optimization
technique. The idea of the ant colony algorithm is to mimic
this behavior with "simulated ants" walking around the search
space representing the problem to be solved.
Gehring and Bortfelt, in [6], present the genetic algorithm for
container loading problem. The main idea is to loading the
strongly homogeneous set of boxes into a single container.
The approach includes generation of a set of disjunctive box
towers and to arrange the box towers on the floors of the
container. The stability, balance constraints are considered.
The algorithm can be applied to only homogeneous set of
boxes (rectangles). So for the heterogeneous sets of cargo the
constraints are considered like Orientation constraint, Top
placement constraint, Weight constraint.
Various research papers are referred for the operational
research and its optimization methods. The dynamic
optimization in case of the cargo space optimization is easy to
find a optimal solution. The genetic algorithm is also the best
way to find the optimal solution but it has some drawbacks. It
cannot be applied to the close container format.
III. PROPOSED SOLUTION
Dynamic optimization technique is easier to get a optimized
solution in space optimization. Different types of parameters
are to be considered for the design of the optimization
algorithm. In the proposed system, two optimization
algorithms are designed. As the existing solution does not
gives the fully optimized solution for the cargo loading in a
given container. The cargo space optimization in a container is
the most challenging work today. While designing the
optimization algorithm different parameters of container and
cargo are considered. The main parameters are base, width,
height and weight of container and cargo.
A. Proposed Architecture
Figure 2 shows the proposed system architecture. The
architecture shows the 3 main blocks as Simple algorithm,
LAFF algorithm and LAFF algorithm with weight
consideration. The cargo parameters are taken as input to the
system which gets stored in a database as shown in figure 2.
Fig 2 Architecture of Proposed System
The detailed architecture of proposed system is discussed
below:-
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1) Inputs to System
As shown in the fig. 2, the initial inputs of the system are the
dimensions of the container into which the cargo is to be
placed and the dimensions of the cargo. The container has the
dimensions base, width, height and weight. The inputs of the
container are shown in the equation (3.1).
Container I/p = (Cb, Ch, Cw, Cwt)…. (3.1)
Cb : Base of Container
Ch: Height of Container
Cw: Width of Container
Cwt: Weight of Container
The dimensions of the cargo are also comes in the
consideration. The Cargo dimensions are as shown in the
equation (3.2).
Cargo I/ps = (CRb, CRh, CRw, CRwt)…. (3.2)
CRb : Base of Cargo
CRh: Height of Cargo
CRw: Width of Cargo
CRwt: Weight of Cargo
The database of these inputs is created which is then given to
the different algorithms for the further processing.
2) Simple Algorithm
In the simple algorithm the cargo arrangements takes place in
sorted manner according to the dimensions sorting and weight
sorting techniques. The source and destinations of the cargo
loading nd dispatched is get considered here. The type of
cargo varies like plastic, iron etc. The dimensions are first get
sorted according to the base, height and width of the cargo.
After that the weight sorting is conducted and finally the
placement of cargo takes place. At first in this algorithm, the
volume of the container and cargo gets calculated from the
equations (3.3) and equation (3.4).
Volume of Container = (Cb * Ch * Cw)….(3.3)
Volume of Cargo = (CRb * CRh * CRw)….(3.4)
The cargo with the maximum weight is selected as given in
equation (3.5)
CRwt = WtCRmax ….(3.5)
3) LAFF(Largest Area First Fit)Algorithm
In this algorithm the placement takes place according to the
largest base of the container and cargo. For this purpose the
volume of the cargo gets calculated first and it is compared
with the volume of the container. If it is the largest then it gets
placed otherwise rotation of the cargo takes place. The volume
of the container is calculated by the equation (3.3) and the
volume of the cargo gets calculated by the equation (3.4). The
cargo base, cargo height and cargo width is gets compared
with the base of the container.
4) LAFF Algorithm with Weight Considerstion
The working of this algorithm is as same as the LAFF
algorithm but here maximum weighed cargo gets considered
first. The largest base and weights are given as input to this
algorithm. The weights of cargo already get sorted in
decreasing manner so that maximum weighted cargo along
with largest base gets selected first for the placement. The
placement of cargo takes place according to weight and
volume of cargo which gives the optimized solution.
5) Space Optimization
The main objective of the proposed system is to get the
optimized solution for placement the cargo in the container.
Three algorithms are designed for this purpose and space
utilization is calculated using the equation (3.5)
Sn = TVCR / TVc…. (3.6)
Where
Sn : Space utilization
TVCR : Total volume occupied by cargos
TVc : container volume.
B. Design
This section gives the algorithmic structure of the proposed
algorithms i.e. simple algorithm, LAFF algorithm and LAFF
algorithm with Weigh consideration.
1) Simple Algorithm:-
This section gives the detailed description of the simple
algorithm. The simple algorithm takes the inputs of the
dimensions of the containers and cargos. The base, width and
Maximum weight of the cargo. The sorting of the dimensions
takes place and according to that the cargo gets placed in the
given sized container. The algorithm is as shown in Algorithm
1.
Algorithm 1
1. Insert container dimensions
2. Calculate volume of container Vc
3. Input cargo dimensions, weight, max weight a
cargo can taken.
4. Calculate volume of cargo Vcr.
5. Sort cargos according to max weight.
6. If base of cargo > container base, skip cargo.
7. If volume of cargo> container, skip cargo.
8. Else add cargo to list.
9. Add volume of cargo.
10. Increment the cargo counter.
11. If remaining base > cargo base, place cargo
along with width and add cargo volume again.
12. If remaining volume < Cargo volume
13. Add cargo to new container.
14. Calculate space utilization
15. Sn = TVCR / TVc
16. Decrement cargo counter
17. While all cargos are placed, counter=0
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2) LAFF Algorithm
The shipping companies deals with the problem of cargo space
optimization i.e. the planning and loading the cargo or items
into the given sized containers in proper way. The main
objective of these companies is to fit 3D boxes in container
with the proper optimization method so that maximum cargo
can be placed with minimum efforts. The problem of fitting
the boxes which are different in shape and size or can be the
same to each other into a big container in optimum level, is
called 3-dimensional packing problem. The main objective is
to use the maximum space or volume of the container with
minimum wastage of space. This provides the reduction of
costs in shipments with the use minimum number of
containers. The optimization algorithm for this purpose is
designed which is called LAFF(Largest Area First Fit). The
algorithm considers all the dimensions of the cargos and
container and helps to arrange the maximum cargo in the
given container.
The LAFF algorithm considers the base, height and width of
the cargo. The cargo base is gets compared to containers base
at each time and according to that the placement of the cargo
takes place. After the consideration of the base of the cargo,
the height is considered. The cargo gets placed vertically after
this step. After this step the width of the cargo gets compared
so that the placement of the cargo takes place along width.
The LAFF algorithm considers the volume of both cargo and
container. Every time after placement of the cargo, the volume
of the cargo and the remaining volume of the container gets
calculated. The space utilization is then calculated by the
division of the total cargo placed in container and the volume
of the container. The LAFF Algorithm is as given in
Algorithm 2.
Algorithm 2
1. Insert container dimensions
2. Calculate volume of container Vc
3. Input cargo dimensions, weight, max weight a cargo
can taken.
4. Calculate volume of cargo Vcr.
5. If cargo dimensions=container dimensions.
6. Choose cargo with widest base
7. If volume of cargo> container, skip cargo.
8. Else add cargo to list.
9. Add volume of cargo.
10. Increment the cargo counter
11. If remaining base > cargo base, place cargo along
with base and add cargo volume again.
12. Place cargo along height & add cargo volume.
13. Else place along width and add volume
14. If remaining volume < Cargo volume
15. Add cargo to new container.
16. Calculate space utilization
17.
Sn = TVCR / TVc
18. Decrement cargo counter
19. While all cargos are placed, counter=0
 3) LAFF Algorithm with Weight Cnsideration
This section presents the algorithm of LAFF with weight
consideration. This algorithm considers the cargos along with
weight .This algorithm is same as the LAFF algorithm , only
change is while adding the cargos in a container, they gets
sorted according to increasing weight. This doesn’t gives the
optimum solution as compared to LAFF algorithm. Finally the
space utilization gets calculated as
Sn= TVCR / TVc.
IV. RESULTS & DISCUSSION
Result and discussion section is an important part of research
work. Evaluation of the proposed approach is carried out in
the result and discussion section. Result section presents the
experimental results of the proposed approach as well as the
existing approach. Evaluation of the both the approaches are
carried out in the discussion section on the basis of obtained
results. Cargo Load planning and optimization is proved by
carrying out experiments. Results are carried out using java.
Before evaluating performance preprocessing is done on cargo
database and extracted cargo features
The proposed system is implemented using JAVA language
using the platform Apache Tomcat/7.0.65. Apache Tomcat
version 7.0 implements the Servlet 3.0 and Java Server Pages
2.2 specifications from the Java Community Process, and
includes many additional features that make it a useful
platform for developing and deploying web applications and
web services. Cargo database is used for cargo load planning
and optimization. Implementation is done using java
environment. While implementing cargos are loaded
dynamically. All three algorithms Simple algorithm, LAFF
and LAFF with weight are executed on same database to get
comparative output. Performance is evaluated in terms of
space optimization. The proposed system has not used any
standard database for the calculation. The database is created
dynamically according to requirements. User can provide any
kind of dimensions and the software will validate and verify
all dimensions. The system will provide best output out of it.
The experiments are performed on various number of database
with different number of cargos. For experimental evaluation
the database provided of 56 cargos. The application will help
to know how many containers would be required to
completely place all the cargos.
A. Results
Experimental result shows the effectiveness of proposed
system, in which the dynamic database of the container and
cargo dimensions is provided. 56 cargos have been added in
database.
1) Results Generated by Simple Algorithm
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The values of the database containing cargo dimensions are
given as a input to simple algorithm. In this algorithm sorting
takes place according to the base of cargo and maximum
weight of the cargo. Here, the vertical or other placement of
cargo does not take place, and so it does not give the required
optimized output. The wastage of the space takes place in
some extent. Space utilization is as shown in table 1
Table1 Space utilization by simple algorithm
Container No. Total items Space utilization
1 13 0.91
2 13 0.98
3 28 0.85
2) Results Generated by LAFF with Weight Consideration
The algorithm takes the dynamic database of the cargo which
considers base, height, width and maximum weight of the
cargo. The cargos taken for the calculation are already
according to maximum weight. The cargo gets sorted
according to weight and then the remaining procedure takes
place. The space utilization is as shown in table 2.
Table2 Space utilization by LAFF algorithm with Weight
consideration
Container No. Total items Space utilization
1 9 0.90
2 16 0.98
3 29 0.85
3) Results Generated by LAFF algorithm
The section presents the results generated by the LAFF
algorithm. The LAFF algorithm gives the maximum space
optimization among the three algorithms. The dynamic
database of cargo is given as a input to the LAFF algorithm.
Here, all the possible placements of the cargo takes place. The
base of the cargo gets calculated 1st and then its gets
compared to the base of the container. If it is ok then its gets
placed horizontally along with the base otherwise the next
calculation gets takes place. The next calculation is along with
the height of the cargo and the height of the container gets
compared. If it is within the limit then cargo gets placed
vertically otherwise next calculation is performed. The width
of the cargo gets compared with the container's width and
according to that the placement takes place. Finally the weight
of the cargo gets considered.
The space utilization by LAFF is as shown in table 3.
Table3 Space utilization by LAFF algorithm
Container No. Total items Space utilization
1 12 0.99
2 10 0.99
3 32 0.8019
B. Discussion
Results of experiment state that performance of LAFF is better
than other two algorithms. Performance get reduce when there
are improper dimension cargos are added. Space utilization of
containers is better by LAFF Algorithm. But sometimes it is
observed that the space utilization of some container is
showing better results using other two algorithms than LAFF,
but the overall results of LAFF are displayed better than other
two algorithms. As the cargos are dynamically added, the
above results will change accordingly. But as observed after
working on various database that the optimized results are
retrieved only by LAFF algorithm which are far more better
than other two algorithms. As shown in figure 3, graph shows
that the Container space optimization of LAFF is better than
other two algorithms in above given scenario. These results
may vary as an when the cargo database changes, but after
major testing on various database with different number of
cargos, the LAFF algorithm gives higher performance and is
highly efficient than other two mentioned algorithms.
[3] Tom Jose V and Sijo M T, Praveen, “Cargo Loading using Dynamic
Programming and Comparative Software Study”, International Journal of
Science, Engineering and Technology Research (IJSETR)ISSN: 2278
7798, Volume 2, Issue 2, pp. 1-4, February 2013.
[4] M. Zahid Gurbuz, Selim Akyoku,Ybrahim Emiroolu and Aysun Guran,
“An Efficient Algorithm for 3D Rectangular Box Packing”, Applied
Automatic Systems: Proceedings of selected AAS, Skopje, pp. 131-134,
September 2009.
[5] E. Kanniga1, S. M. K. Srikanth and M. Sundhararajan, “Optimization
Solution of Equal Dimension Boxes in Container Loading Problem
using a Permutation Block Algorithm”, Indian Journal of Science and
Technology, Volume 7, pp. 22-26, June 2014.
[6] H GEHRING and A. BORTFELDT, “A Genetic Algorithm for
Solving the Container Loading Problem”, Fern University
Hagen, pp. 1-24.
[7] Hong-jun Heng and Ya-jing Li, “Robust Optimization Model of Air
Cargo Capacity Inventory Control”, IEEE, Volume 09, No. 2, pp. 1-4,
2009.
[8] Cunlu Zhang, Ruibin Luo, Zhixin Chen, “An Optimization Model for
Cargo Space Allocation for Air Cargo Agent”, IEEE transactions,
Volume 10, No. 6, pp. 1-5, 2010.

Fig 3 Results Graph

V. CONCLUSION & FUTURE WORK

The cargo space optimization for containers is difficult task to place
the cargo in the given container and to utilize the maximum space of
the given container. To fulfill this requirement, the optimization
algorithms are designed namely simple algorithm, LAFF algorithm
and LAFF algorithm with weight algorithm. The algorithms consider
the dimensions of containers and cargo like base, height, width and
weight. The LAFF algorithm gives the maximum space optimization
among the three algorithms.

In future, the proposed algorithms can be used for Indian railways,

Indian airlines and trucks.

VI. REFERENCES

[1] Ulrich Rieder, “Stochastic Operations Research”, Optimization and

Operations Research, University of Ulm, German, Encyclopedia of Life
Support Systems(EOLSS), Volume 04, pp. 1-8, 1981.
[2] Jeff Linderoth, “Operations Research - Deterministic Modeling”,
Department of Industrial and system engineering, Spring 2011, pp. 1-6,
December 2014.

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